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Israel’s defense minister said he was taking steps to ensure the country’s “security” after media reports he had tried to delay a judicial reform that had led to thousands of reservists threatening to stop volunteering for military service.
Israeli channel 12 reported Friday night that Yoav Gallant was trying to persuade government and opposition leaders to extend parliament’s session so that a vote on the reforms could be postponed until consensus was reached.
The vote, scheduled for next week, concerns the first part of the reform being pushed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government.
In response, Gallant’s office said it was taking “measures to achieve broad consensus and to ensure the security of the State of Israel upon exit.” [the military] separate from political discourse”.
The defense secretary’s intervention comes amid a growing public mobilization against the reform. On Saturday night, tens of thousands of protesters holding Israeli flags poured into Jerusalem after a four-day march that organizers described as an attempt to “save democracy.”
Protests have been held every week for 28 weeks since the government announced its plans in January, with more rallies scheduled for Saturday night across the country, including in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Be’er Sheva.
The demonstrations were accompanied by statements of resistance on the part of the reservists. More than 1,100 Air Force soldiers released a letter on Friday threatening to stop volunteering if the government’s plans to clamp down on the judiciary go into effect.
The flight crew’s letter followed similar threats from reservists in other parts of the armed forces, which caused dismay at senior officers over military readiness.
In an unusually candid acknowledgment of the concerns, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the military’s chief spokesman, said earlier Friday that reservists’ failure to report for duty “hurts people.” [military] and state security”.
“The past few days have shown that cohesion is damaged, [in a way] The repair will take a long time,” he said.
Hardliners in the government reacted with anger to the letter. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultra-nationalist national security minister, accused the reservists of trying to “take the Israeli government hostage and impose a minority political position on it.” “We will not give in to this dangerous attempt to create chaos,” he said.
However, several former leaders of the Israeli military, Mossad intelligence agency and Shin Bet intelligence agency defended the reservists and urged Netanyahu to postpone the overhaul.
“The legislative process violates the social contract that has existed between thousands of reserve commanders and soldiers for 75 years,” the former security officials wrote in a letter released on Saturday. “[We] holding up a bright red stop sign in front of you and your government.”
Government officials say the overhaul is necessary to curb an all-powerful judiciary that they say is pursuing a partisan, left-wing agenda. The first bill, due to pass next week, would bar Israel’s top court from using the “reasonableness” standard to reject government decisions on issues like appointments.
But critics say the proposals would remove key controls for Israeli governments, pave the way for undermining minority protections, encourage corruption and harm the economy.
Gallant’s intervention is the second time he’s attempted to slow down the revamp. In March he warned that disagreement over the reforms posed an “imminent threat” to security.
Netanyahu then responded by announcing that Gallant would be sacked, sparking another round of protests that escalated into a brief general strike.
Netanyahu caved in the face of protests and the strike that closed shops, banks and Israeli embassies around the world and halted flights at Israel’s international airport. He delayed the revision by three months, distanced himself from some of the most controversial elements and announced that Gallant would remain in office.